Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up in Public Education

People often ask what the differences are between traditional public schools and charter public schools. One of the differences is that most traditional public schools use a top-down structure and most charter public schools use a bottom-up structure. Let’s take a look at these fundamentally different ways of administering public education.

The Top-Down Educational Model In a top-down model, decisions are made by administrators who have little if any contact with students, and then these decisions are mandated to everyone else. For example, in recent months, district administrators told LPS middle school principals that there would be a change in the way their schools could handle electives. Many teachers had serious and practical concerns about these changes; they know the students and they know how things work in their particular schools. These teachers have a lot invested in their jobs and the kids they teach, and they’re the ones who interact with the students on a daily basis. But their concerns went unheeded. The PhDs at district headquarters had spoken.

In February of this year, the Lincoln Public Schools Board of Education approved a $50 million proposal to acquire Chromebooks for all 3rd to 12th graders over the next several years. In meetings regarding the plan, people asked what curricula would be used on the Chromebooks, and board members and LPS administrators said they were still figuring that out, even after the decision had been made to purchase the Chromebooks. One school board member gushed, “This is the stuff of legacy,” following the approval of the Technology Implementation Plan. But whose legacy is it? And how will this top-down technology “plan” improve the educational outcomes of LPS students?

Top-down educational models don’t leave room for true innovation because the people who are in a position to innovate are not given much freedom. Top-down models are also highly susceptible to corruption. There’s too much concentrated power. The contracts (whether they’re for Common Core textbooks or building projects or Chromebooks) are so large that cronyism and outside motives encroach, and true educational goals get lost in the grappling for public funds.

The Bottom-Up Approach Public charter schools are experiencing great success with the bottom-up approach to education. Instead of “legacy” decisions and district mandates, these schools are doing something different: they’re trusting their teachers and counting on them to make important decisions for the students. After all, the teachers know the students better than anyone else.

Many charter schools like Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST) have found that the bottom-up approach works much better if the goal is to help students achieve academically. In the following interview, Jake Firman, senior manager educational technology at DSST describes their approach. He says that teachers are the experts in their classrooms. They know what their students need. They know their students’ perceptions and opinions, and with this valuable information, they decide how to integrate technology into their classrooms. Then they send this information back up to instructional leaders and ultimately to the ed tech leaders who can help make the teachers’ classroom needs come to fruition.

It’s no wonder that DSST was named one of the Top Work Places in Denver the past three years. Can you imagine it, teachers? Working at a public school where the administration depends on your feedback and values your professional expertise? And what about the benefits to the students? Did you catch that bit in the video about 100% of DSST's graduates getting accepted to 4-year universities? This is an urban, low-income school. It can happen anywhere--anywhere that is willing to put student achievement before other priorities.

In the quest to provide Nebraska’s students with a world-class education, we need to strive for a bottom-up approach to education. When teachers have the freedom and authority to teach the individuals in their classes in ways that reach them best, success follows.